Trending Now

You are here

WRESTLING: Wapak placed three at Top Gun

ALLIANCE — The Wapakoneta Redskins varsity wrestling team bounced back from a tough weekend two weeks ago at the Brecksville tournament with a solid showing Friday and Saturday in the Top Gun Tournament in Alliance.

Three Redskins wrestlers placed in the elite event, which is widely considered to be a preview of the Ohio High School Athletic Association state tournament in March.

John Martin led the way for Wapak with a second-place finish at 106 pounds.

Holden Hengstler and Alec Brown both recorded fifth-place finishes at 170 and 182 pounds, respectively.

Martin marched into the championship bout on the strength of a pin at 1:23 in his first match and decisions in his next three. He shut out CVCA’s Ryan Bennett 2-0 in the semifinals before falling to Marysville’s Taleb Rahmani, who pinned Martin at the 1:24 mark.

Hengstler posted a pair of early-round wins, on a pin and a technical fall. But Westerville Central’s Zach Brown pinned him at 3:42 in his next bout.

Hengstler worked his way through the consolation bracket, winning back-to-back matches. A loss to Dover’s Brogan Endres kept him out of the third-place bout. But Hengstler came through with a 3-2 decision over Steubenville’s Jake Howarth in the fifth-place match.

Brown won his first three matches before being pinned by Huston Evans, from state-dynasty St. Paris-Graham, in his fourth bout.

In his first consolation match, Brown fell to Mayfield’s Conor Murray, who Brown had beaten in an earlier round, in a 3-1 overtime decision. The loss relegated Brown to the fifth-place match, where he knocked off Jackson’s Charlie Dear in a 4-3 decision.

The Redskins return to action 10 a.m. Saturday at home for the Wapak Invitational tournament.